On August 22, I joined a protest against a group of 150 anti-LGBTQ fascists. Watch the video to see what happened:

I was brutalized and arrested. And what was my crime? Joining with others to defend the rights and lives of LGBTQ people from MAGA fascists, and doing so as part of getting organized for revolution.

Just days after Laura Ann “Lauri” Carleton was murdered in Lake Arrowhead for flying a Pride flag outside her store, these anti-LGBTQ protesters put on a fascist freak show in downtown LA. In the name of “parents' rights,” they demanded an end to teaching children about the humanity of LGBTQ people.

This is your wake-up call: This was not just some band of lunatics doing a protest. All summer a growing fascist movement has targeted school boards in Glendale, Chino and Murrieta... and the list is growing. Meanwhile, the same and worse is happening across the country with anti-LGBTQ laws going into effect, women going to jail for abortions, and people being murdered for being gay or Black. Far too many people are ignoring this and hoping it will be OK because the majority of us support these rights. This is not good. And it is not good that there were less than 50 of us opposing these fascists in the streets of LA. Again, this is your wake-up call!

Yes, these people are lunatics filled with irrational hatred, but they are part of something that has backing and goes all the way to the top—to Trump and every GOP candidate. The Republi-fascists are making clear they will not accept a “peaceful transfer of power” unless it results in them coming to power.

And what are the Democrats doing? Here in blue, blue LA, the police were more intent on going after those of us resisting this, while giving the fascists free rein. This is because the Democrats are more concerned about maintaining the “law and order” of this oppressive system.

What we need is a fundamentally different system. A whole different political and economic system that has written into its Constitution the goal of ending the oppression of people based on race, class, sex and gender, and that celebrates the beautiful diversity of humanity and the planet. Here's the good news! This Constitution already exists. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, written by the revolutionary leader and architect of the new communism, Bob Avakian. And the bridge to this is making a real revolution to overthrow this capitalist system.

All this is what I was fighting for on August 22, and what you should join me in fighting for. This society is breaking apart and being remade in a fascist way. This makes things more dangerous, but it also means that the revolution we need has become more possible. Instead of looking away or trying to hold things together the way they have been, we need to bring forward a defense against the fascist thugs in and out of uniform, and do so as part of preparing for revolution.

After seeing the video, people have asked me where I get my courage. First of all, in this moment, all of us should learn from the courage of Lauri Carleton. Where I get my courage is from the example of Bob Avakian. Over the decades, he has never turned away from the need and goal of emancipating humanity. He has forged and applied a scientific method to enable people to see through all the twists and turns to how this emancipation is possible. When you can see that the world doesn’t have to be this way and see a way through to how to change it, you can do what needs to be done. Join us.